Adam Rubin's Column On ESPN

[NY Sports Fan]

I suggest reading Adam Rubin's column which you can find on ESPN.com, New York.

A few things worth mentioning.

1- The Mets were surprised about Santana's not being ready to pitch in ST. Where was their specific off season program for him?

2- Francisco's shoulder problem.Where were they to monitor his rehab program?

3- Shaun Marcum after pitching 2 innings on February 23 says he needs 2 weeks of long throwing and bullpen sessions because he is not ready.

4- There was not 1 scout who said that he thought that the Mets would be appreciably better than the Marlins who went through a fire sale in the Winter.

[Dugmet]

I suggest reading Adam Rubin's column which you can find on ESPN.com, New York.

A few things worth mentioning.

1- The Mets were surprised about Santana's not being ready to pitch in ST. Where was their specific off season program for him?

2- Francisco's shoulder problem.Where were they to monitor his rehab program?

3- Shaun Marcum after pitching 2 innings on February 23 says he needs 2 weeks of long throwing and bullpen sessions because he is not ready.

4- There was not 1 scout who said that he thought that the Mets would be appreciably better than the Marlins who went through a fire sale in the Winter.

Players are not under the supervision of teams during the offseason unless a player is specifically working with a team's medical doctor -- such as at the Hospital for Special Surgery in which case they get updates on the player's condition. Otherwise team and players dont have much contact, especially if the player lives in another country. A coach, manager, or GM might call a player once or twice during the off season, but that's that.

Mets signed Shawn Marcum on January 30. He passed a physical. That's that. Spring training is longer this year bc of the WBC. Hopefully he will be ready by the first time his name comes up for a regular season start. He probably knows his arm best. If he feels it s best to long toss, then it sounds like a good idea.

The Mets have made good steps in the right direction. Improving a team is an incremental process. Patience.

[Claymation]

Please provide a link next time.

Is this the article?

JUPITER, Fla. -- The last time the New York Mets were relevant, at least with respect to baseball, Johan Santana was tossing a three-hit shutout on short rest against the Marlins in Game No. 161 of the 2008 season to keep his team in postseason contention. He was coming off a then-career-high 125-pitch performance four days earlier. He also was pitching with torn meniscus cartilage in his left knee that required offseason surgery.

Santana's body has betrayed him since arriving with the Mets. The season after the meniscus tear he had to get his left elbow cleaned out. The following year came shoulder surgery, which required two offseasons to rehab.

Yet one thing you cannot question about Santana is his competitiveness.

And that's exactly what the Mets did when they groused -- albeit with no names attached -- about Santana arriving at this year's camp with his arm not in pitching shape.

The Mets would be far better served looking in the mirror.

Manager Terry Collins has done an admirable job trying to put lipstick on a pig with his job fate hanging the balance, but there are alarming early signs this is going to be an abysmal year for the Mets -- far worse than even the fans who understand the Mets are biding time for prospects Zack Wheeler and Travis d'Arnaud to complete their development realize.

With respect to Santana, in whom the Mets have $31 million invested this season, including a 2014 buyout, how can they act shocked or even disappointed at the shape in which he arrived? Isn't it the organization's responsibility to have a specific offseason program?

Far more nauseating than the Santana issue is the case of Frank Francisco.

General manager Sandy Alderson said Francisco had extenuating family circumstances that interrupted his rehab from a December elbow cleanout. But even if the trainer had to move in with Francisco during the winter, someone from the organization should have been on top of him, ensuring the rehab program was followed and that the Mets' $6.5 million investment in Francisco was maximized.

Now, as it stands, Francisco likely is ticketed to open the season on the disabled list.

Want more?

Word is, Collins was aghast when newly signed starting pitcher Shaun Marcum, after tossing two innings in the Grapefruit League opener Feb. 23, declared his shoulder was not strong enough and that he needed two weeks of long-tossing and bullpen work without game action. Marcum said he only needed four starts to get ready for the season, but who is running things here?

And that leads to just how bad 2013 could be.

I have yet to find a scout who will declare the Mets appreciably better than the Marlins, who underwent their latest fire sale.

The Mets' outfield, yucks aside, is absolutely alarming. One scout wondered how many homers collectively they would hit this season, and that's with the fragile Lucas Duda as the left fielder. Kirk Nieuwenhuis might be playing himself off the roster as Collin Cowgill's platoon mate in center field. And Marlon Byrd and Mike Baxter should be the right-field tandem.

In the bullpen, everyone gets more responsibility with Frank Francisco unavailable. Bobby Parnell becomes the closer, with Brandon Lyon, LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Atchison the primary setup men. Meanwhile, if Santana is not available to start the season, and with R.A. Dickey outta here, Jeremy Hefner may well be the first placeholder. If Marcum, with his injury history, ends up having some issue too, you're either rushing Wheeler or putting Collin McHugh in the rotation.

And we haven't even addressed the bench. Or, as Alderson might say if he hadn't already used it to describe the outfield, "What bench?"

Brandon Hicks might be on the 40-man roster, but his fielding has been so alarmingly poor, it's hard to fathom he doesn't get unseated for the backup shortstop role by Omar Quintanilla.

The truth is the Mets have legit prospects in Wheeler and d'Arnaud, plus right-hander Noah Syndergaard from the Dickey trade in Class A. And a rotation of young studs, if it materializes, will take you a long way.

But even if Harvey and Wheeler end up as No. 1 or No. 2 starters and d'Arnaud regularly hits 20 homers, those players plus David Wright and Jonathon Niese will not put the Mets in the class of the Washington Nationals or Atlanta Braves come 2014, when Collins might not be around anyway.

Mets' spring adding up to a negative

[Metsin08]

Rubin is a pos and joke of a sportswriter. I'd be equally interested to get Kim Kardashians take on the Mets ST.

[Dugmet]

Rubin is a pos and joke of a sportswriter. I'd be equally interested to get Kim Kardashians take on the Mets ST.

But he is the best pos and joke of a sportswriter covering the Mets.

I dislike the NY sports media intensely, but Rubin is the least despicable by a wide margin. I read Rubin's columns exclusively 98% of the time.

[acerimusdux]

Rubin is 100% on target here.

When you have Santana, Francisco, and Marcum all coming to camp not ready, that's really starting off on the wrong foot. Aside from David Wright, that's most of the veteran leadership on this team. Your highest paid player, your closer, and your biggest offseason free agent. The rotation was the only part of this team anyone dared hope might be above average.

This is one of the worst rosters in MLB right now.

[Dugmet]

Rubin is 100% on target here.

When you have Santana, Francisco, and Marcum all coming to camp not ready, that's really starting off on the wrong foot. Aside from David Wright, that's most of the veteran leadership on this team. Your highest paid player, your closer, and your biggest offseason free agent. The rotation was the only part of this team anyone dared hope might be above average.

This is one of the worst rosters in MLB right now.

Mostly much ado about nothing, imo.

Aggressive NY media puts athletes under a ridiculous microscope. Sometimes the media makes good points, but so much of it is either distorted or exaggerated, and either misinforms or inflames the emotions of fans who sometimes cannot distinguish between information and the opinion of the writer.

What's the threshold for "one of the worst" these days? Bottom 3? Bottom 5? Bottom 10?

[YoungStuna28]

I agree that Rubin is the best sportswriter covering the Mets.

[milominderbinde]

Santana coming into camp in poor shape is on Santana - not the Mets.

As for the team being terrible, well, we knew that.

[MLB2K10King]

This is the same team that stopped Grant Roberts Shoulder Surgery while he was on the table, I find it difficult to beleive they couldn't do a little extra monitoring of their investments. On the other side, I find it a little offensive that they would talk badly about Johan, even if it wasn't necessarily mean spirited, this is a guy who is known for his work ethic and is in a year where he should be looking to get traded to a contender. Why would he mail it in all of a sudden?

[rogue5]

Suck for Luck.

This team is setting itself up to be competitive starting in 2014. Maybe our best bet is to be as horrible as possible and get eh first pick. Is Bryce Harper eligible to be drafted again?

[YoungStuna28]

Also Johan is in great shape, his arm just isn't in in-game pitching shape yet. It's a big difference. It's not like he showed up to camp like a fat pos like Oliver Perez.

[metswon69]

Also Johan is in great shape, his arm just isn't in in-game pitching shape yet. It's a big difference. It's not like he showed up to camp like a fat pos like Oliver Perez.

But that's not what the article said..

“(The) arm seems to be fine, (he) just was not in pitching shape when he arrived,” Alderson said, according to Heyman.

Given that, Heyman says the Mets couldn’t understand why Santana wanted to pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg, told Heyman his client needed a full break this winter after a tough rehab and recovery from shoulder surgery over the course of the last two seasons.

“He tried to rest physically and mentally (this winter) and use Spring Training to get in shape,” Greenberg said. “The goal was to be ready Opening Day or as close as possible. Mentally, as much as physically, he was burned out. He decided he needed a full break.”

That clearly indicates he didn't come into camp in baseball shape and even his agent insinuated as much.

His arm was fine according to Sandy..

No one is comparing him to Oliver Perez but in this case Johan clearly rested on his laurels/reputation and didn't keep himself properly conditioned over the offseason.

If that coming out pissed him off and motivated him so be it. He already had 25 million reasons to be motivated.

[YoungStuna28]

Did I not just say that he was not in pitching shape?

When they say his arm is fine, they mean structurally, but he's not getting velocity because he hasn't been throwing in the off-season at all. Thus he is out of pitching shape, not physical overall shape.

[metswon69]

Did I not just say that he was not in pitching shape?

When they say his arm is fine, they mean structurally, but he's not getting velocity because he hasn't been throwing in the off-season at all. Thus he is out of pitching shape, not physical overall shape.

You said his arm..

Yes but that's part of the fact that he didn't condition himself properly over the offseason. When your agent says you took the offseason to "rest" how is it possible for Johan (or for that matter any pitcher) to be in game shape/be able to pitch after a 5 month layoff?